ORGANIZATIONAL &INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE

 Studies of individual reactions to work reveal that when work provides challenges, potential for advancement and an opportunity for using expressive capabilities, it is enjoyable  This suggests that variations in organizational arrangement of tasks can have a strong impact on individual satisfaction

 Studies have indicated that people who work in bureaucratized settings with more autonomy were more intellectually flexible, open and more self directed.

 Characteristics of work have been shown to affect workers families. Those whose jobs provide them with more autonomy and flexibility are more likely to encourage self- direction and self-expression in their children; those whose jobs offer less autonomy and flexibility are more likely to emphasize obedience to rules in their childcare practices.

 Socialization is a major part of what the family, education, religion and other institutions do to prepare individuals to be members of their social world

 Interaction is the basic building block of socialization….  Out of the process of interaction we learn culture and become members of society  Interaction shapes us into human beings with social selves (which are perceptions we have of who we are)

 Socialization is necessary not only for the survival of the individual but also for the survival of society and its groups

most theories of socialization focus on micro-level processes (ie: how families, peer groups etc. teach us how to live in our respective cultures…. * There are important macro processes as well……….

 (functionalist) perspectives of socialization tend to see different levels of the social world operating to support each other (ex: boy and girl scouts stressing national values/patriotism)

 Conflict theorists believe that those who have power and privilege use socialization to manipulate individuals in the social world to support the interests of elites

 For symbolic interactionists the central “product” of the process of socialization is the self…….  The self refers to the perceptions we have of who we are

 Throughout the socialization process our “self concept” is derived from our perceptions of the way others are responding to us…

 George Herbert Mead- symbolic interactionists who felt individuals take others into account by imagining themselves in the position of the other, a process called “role- taking”…………

 *the key to the development of the self, is learning to take the role of the other  *infants respond to others through imitation  *as children learn to use language and other symbols, the self emerges in the form of play-significant others

 All complex organizations are built up from units of organization and consist of many units of ‘working’ or ‘basic’ organizations, overlaid with units of executive organizations (Chester Bernard)

 Structure “involves clearly defined patterns of activity in which, ideally, every series of actions is functionally related to the purposes of the organization” (Robert Merton)

 Structure consists of “the distributions, along various lines, of people among social positions that influence the role relations among these people” (Peter Blau)

 Formal Structure-refers to the official, explicit division of responsibilities, definitions of how work is to be done and specifications of relationships involving the members of an organization

 Informal Structure refers to the unofficial divisions, definitions and relations that emerge over time in an organization

 Clearly defined division of labor  Hierarchy of Authority  Written rules and documents to govern practices  Separation of home and office  Appointment of members on the basis of qualifications

 Focused on the problem of ‘scientifically figuring out the best way to design organizations as a whole